Date of Submission

Spring 2011

Academic Program

Dance

Advisor

Peggy Florin

Abstract/Artist's Statement

Artist’s Statement by Kylie Arceneaux

I am of the old-fashioned belief that art can hoist a flame- as if through art, expressive people are taught to always “look again.” My number one interest is this “looking” and by association, my number one hurdle is deciding which way I “should look.” Beyond, under or below, my desire “to see” is my sense of duty to provide a symbolic framework around recognizable modes of reality for others “to see.” Art is my work, and I understand it is a life-time pursuit to stay in it- to stay alive. (Is it by the collision of worlds that Art presents a magnetic Truth?)

I am motivated by the notion of greater responsibility, as if all humans establish within themselves an idea of perfection or a point in which the chaos of life is centered. The infinite ways of ordering or arranging those values, which are intrinsic, to our human experience fascinate me, for I am in search of those universal “still” points in which all religious experiences collide. My movement through the world revolves in space; I consider time to be a dependent property of the divisions of space.

My fundamental love of mankind and belief that man is intrinsically good is the foundation of my desire to intelligibly render my world into a coherent web. I’d rather create works designed to showcase the angelic capacity of mankind rather than works that debase the human experience and the transcendental need to understand and transform the regulations of social behavior.

My work can be described as a self-serving spectacle in which all opposites are permitted to synthesize. I am interested in creating a complete vocabulary capable of translation in all artistic mediums. I am in the metaphorical pursuit of fire, and the element’s mythological significance fuels my apprehension of the cycles forming our collective history and memory.

Ultimately I wish to present works that cause all those involved to reconsider their definitions of reality. Through Art, I aim to destroy those commonalities and connotations which trap the collective spirit and tame it into hopeless submission. I wish to reclassify Art by proving that Art is anything that is done artfully.

In the fall of 2010, I presented “speakin’ ofhe ddevil; Odeitherapop”, a dance piece which encapsulated a play with cacophonous abbreviations and historical appropriation. Essentially it showcased a dancer in the psychological pit of her own making with only the voices and intangible objects within dreams to guide her through the darkness.

On March 9th, 2011, I presented “Burning Out” (An Ash Wednesday Act) in the spiral staircase of the Stevenson Library. The piece was a product my continual search for the third option—I do not think a simple yes/no or good/bad can resonate on an eternal wavelength. Over 50 people were involved in the project; 20 women read passages from the Purgatorio by Dante; 12 men were positioned along the stairwell and read different poetic passages; 4 ghosts were eternally trapped in the spiral; 3 dancers represented the totality of consciousness; 3 women were beautiful fates/children; 6 women were goddesses/sirens; 3 women were priestesses. In the end, eachperformer and audience member was forced to reconcile with the tangled mess of our human dowry; each was required to Ascend and make “order” from the “chaos” of the fluid and contagious brushfire of collective mind states.

In the spring of 2011, I will present, “Anneal”, an exploration into mathematical perfection, parallel consciousness, and points of convergence. Precise spatial arrangements and rhythmic counting are utilized to present a snapshot of the everyday phenomenon of the individual/collective and internal/external conflict of agency. The piece is about contemporary society being a part of a larger continuum and the association of ecstasy or freedom within tragic circumstances. “Anneal” represents the flight or story of the phoenix and the ways in which the ash of the trails of past experiences colors how we “see” today.

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